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Heather wrote a lovely post about our favorite Founding Foodie Thomas Jefferson a few years ago. We’ve talked a lot about how amazing Mr. Jefferson was and how much we both admire him. Somehow, I’ve managed to find a NEW reason to love Mr. Jefferson. Thanks to him, there is always something on the kids’ menu my two-year-old daughter will eat. Thank you, T.J., for macaroni and cheese!

The linked video says that President Jefferson even served mac and cheese at a State dinner. I love that idea! I wanted to have BBQ at my wedding but thought maybe people would think it wasn’t “classy” enough. But mac and cheese at a State dinner? That’s another level. Thank you, TJ! As the video said, “Every time you reach for your favorite guilty pleasure cranky-child-placating-device, say a little thank you to Thomas Jefferson.”

I love the Beatles. My first Beatles album listening experience came when I was 11 from a cassette tape recording of my parents’ Rubber Soul and Revolver albums. I am not overstating things when I say that Rubber Soul changed my life. To a sixth-grader whose radio options included Achey Breaky Heart and Boyz II Men, the Beatles pretty much blew my mind. I was recently gifted the remastered Beatles box set that came out a few years ago, and I’ve been listening my way through albums that I know by heart but never had on compact disc, and I’ve made it to my old friend Rubber Soul.

There’s a song at the end of the album called, “Run For Your Life,” where John as the singer portrays a jealous man talking to his lover, telling her he would rather see her dead than with another man (see the lyrics here). As a teenager, I saw it as a darkly sexy song that talks about violently passionate love without being actually threatening. But after listening to it now, I read a bit about John Lennon and discovered that it was openly acknowledged that he was abusive towards women. He admitted to hitting women and in one case he actually tried to strangle a woman he was dating. I’m surprised I didn’t know it already because when I was young, I watched Beatles biographies and read books about them. Maybe I did know but didn’t understand it back then the way I do now. Either way, knowing this now taints my experience of the Beatles’ music or at least John’s contribution. So back to “Run For Your Life.” What used to be a darkly hyperbolic song becomes flat-out frightening because now it seems completely serious. I imagine being his first wife listening to this and thinking, “This is a direct threat.” It’s hard to learn something like that about someone you idolize. Can you still respect them in the same way you used to? Can I listen to John sing about peace and love and not scoff cynically, knowing how hypocritical his words seem? What do you do when your hero proves a villain?

John Lennon isn’t the first hero to let me down. Let’s talk about Thomas Jefferson. If you are a regular reader, you know the Vicky A’s love our Founding Fathers, and we particularly love ourselves some TJ the Red, but wow, that guy was…complicated. There are some flat out wonderful and incredible things about Jefferson, but there are also some not so cool ones, and one downright villainous one. We now have pretty solid genetic evidence that Jefferson did father children with Sally Hemings, his slave. To me, that relationship in itself is not villainy. Historians generally believe that it was consensual [1] (though I’m not entirely sure what could ever truly be “consensual” in a master-slave relationship), and one can imagine that perhaps they truly shared a deep affection or even love for one another. The bad part, in my opinion, comes as a one-two punch. One, Hemings bears a half-dozen obviously mixed race children that are generally acknowledged to look like Jefferson, and the man keeps them on his books as slaves. Two, he does not free Hemings when he dies. Contrast this with George Washington who not only freed all his slaves in his will, but he planned for the piece-meal sale of Mount Vernon with the money gifted to the former slaves to help them start their lives as free men and women [2]. Jefferson was a man who was gifted at the art of self-deception, and perhaps he was able to somehow compartmentalize things in his mind is such a way as to deny to himself that Heming’s children could also be his, but in my mind, that does not absolve him.

How about some Victorian villains? Prepare to have your Christmas ruined, because Charles Dickens was kind of a schmuck – to his wife, at least. After being married to her for 20-ish years, and after she gave him ten, yes TEN children, he left her for a pretty young actress the same age as his eldest daughter. Leaving an older spouse for a younger lover isn’t that uncommon, but then Dickens released public statements about his separation claiming that his wife was an “unloving and unloved mother.” He was known to criticize her appearance and mental abilities in letters to friends, and despite blaming her for the fact that they had way more kids than he wanted, he kept custody of all but the oldest when they separated leaving her sad and alone. Nice one, Ebenezer.

See also my confused relationship with the great Jack London who was a spell-binding writer and inspiring adventurer but also a philandering white supremacist.

So what is a girl to do when she finds out a person she admires and respects did, said, or believed some pretty heinous things? In some cases, we can explain (though not really excuse) behavior as a product of the times in which the person lived. We are perhaps unfairly tougher on Jefferson than all the other slave owners of the period who also fathered children with slaves simply because we expect more of him, the author of our Declaration of Independence. And we can acknowledge that falling out of love with a spouse happens all the time, often to otherwise kind, loving people, and the emotion and pain that go along with separation can lead to people saying or doing things that are out of character and surprisingly unloving. Then there are things, like physical abuse, that there can be no excuse for.

But in the end, we cannot know what our fallen heroes felt, suffered, or endured. While we can condemn the acts, we should not judge the actors. We should know better than to put too much faith into any human, as we are all flawed in our own ways. I think it is possible to admire and respect these men while simultaneously acknowledging their capacity for villainy – a capacity we all have given the right circumstances and triggers.

What do you think? Are there some crimes that are unforgivable in even the greatest of men and women? Are we naive to expect perfection from fallible humans?

On the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, while the people of the young United States were celebrating with cannons, hymns, and fireworks, two of the nation’s greatest patriots lay on their deathbeds. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of the only three living signers of the Declaration, died only hours apart from one another on that significant day. The poignancy of this coincidence has always struck me. What are the odds? It is generally known that both of these venerable Patriots knew their end was approaching and purposefully “held on” (as much as a mortal can) until the fourth. But still! Jefferson was eight years younger, and Adams lived to an unusual 91 years old. It just seems so beautifully fortuitous. The significance was not lost on the people of the time, either. John Quincy Adams called it a “visible and palpable” manifestation of “Divine favor” (David McCullough, John Adams, p647), and honestly, I have to agree. But amidst our celebrations of our founding, I can’t help but think of the hymn we often sing at church, “This is my Song.” Written in 1934 by Lloyd Stone, it reminds us that as much as we love our own country, there are people all over the world who love their own just as passionately. Happy Fourth of July to our American readers and may God bless all nations.

First, the Colonists bought lots of things from England, but England charged them taxes on those things without them having a chance to participate in the government. Sam Adams didn’t like that.

I don’t like that.

Sam Adams didn’t like a lot of things. In protest, the Colonists had the least fun tea party ever (which I refer to as the Boston Massacre) at which no tea was actually drunk but defenseless cases of tea were thrown mercilessly into the ocean. At least they got to wear costumes. (Note to self: Next time, have a Boston-Tea-Party-themed tea party?)

After that, some people were like, “Maybe we should be independent, guys.” So they all got together for the Continental Congress to decide what to do and how best to stop the continued loss of innocent tea. When they got to the Congress, the Massachusetts reps thought they were the hottest, but they were wrong. The Virginians were the hottest.

“Dang, Sam. Jefferson and Clay look GOOD. Are they hotter than us?”

The Continental Congress got together a poopload of times. There was a lot of this from South Carolina.

Because where would I get my fancy clothes?

And a lot of this from Massachusetts.

Plus, Virginia was pissed.

“Virginia is the bomb. These guys are chumps.”

John Adams decided they needed to write down their feelings, so he asked Thomas Jefferson to write a Declaration of Independence.

Do you like it? I really need you to like it.

They liked it!

“This declaration is so incredible my wig fell off.”

But they still had to vote on it. Eventually, everyone agreed to declare independence. Then they had to announce to the general populace that they had basically just signed them all up for war.

Hope ya’ll got your muskets ready!

Then there was a lot of fighting for a couple of years. Luckily for them, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were all in Europe pretty much the whole time.

Wait, the war is over already? And we missed the whole thing? Sweet!

Not long after that, they all went back to the new independent states. It was time to elect a President. George Washington did not want this job.

Dear God, it’s me, George. Please don’t make me President.

But they made him President anyway, because he was the man. His one rule was that he didn’t want political parties in his administration. That didn’t work out too well.

“If you two don’t stop flirting, I am resigning.”

“Washington said we have to stop.” “Not even he can stop this.”

In the end, President Washington served two terms before stepping down and allowing a new President to be elected. You know those before and after pictures they show of President Obama from 2008 to now? This is what GW looked like before and after his two terms.

That was a rough 8 years, but he made it and so did the rest of the country thanks to our Founding Fathers!

All still images from HBO’s John Adams miniseries. Mouse over images for gif credits.

Here at the Vicky A’s we pause in our blogging to express our grief and sincere condolences to all affected by the Boston marathon tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those injured and killed in the explosions.

Here are some resources if you are still searching for a loved one or are looking for ways to help:

If you are a displaced runner/participant, the Red Cross has created a Safe and Well website for you to register to let your family and friends know that you are safe. I have been told from a friend in Boston that cell service has been suspended for a time so the internet should be utilized whenever possible (Facebook, Twitter, resource sites).

Google has created a Person Finder here. Whether you are searching or have information on an individual, this is a great resource.

Phone number resources for families of victims: 617-635-4500 and for any and all witnesses:1-800-494-8477

Words are useless at a time like this, but in his November 13, 1818 letter to his friend John Adams on the death of his wife Abigail, Thomas Jefferson gave grief a voice:

“Tried myself in the school of affliction, by the loss of every form of connection which can rive the human heart, I know well, and feel what you have lost, what you have suffered, are suffering, and have yet to endure. The same trials have taught me that for ills so immeasurable, time and silence are the only medicine I will not, therefore, by useless condolences, open afresh the sluices of your grief, nor, although mingling sincerely my tears with yours, will I say a word more where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort to us both, that the term is not very distant, at which we are to deposit in the same cerement, our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never lose again. God bless you and support you under your heavy affliction.”

I was having afternoon tea with my family on Saturday when I reminded them that a certain important President’s birthday was honored on this day. We all raised our teacups to Thomas Jefferson, born on April 13th, 1743 ten days after my own birthday ahem. He holds a special place in my heart for reasons that are known to many. I don’t need to bore you with a retelling of his intellectual genius and pursuits, his skill as a writer and in languages, his ability and passion as an architect, his love of France, his complex political ideology, and the continuing controversy over his views and actions where slavery is concerned. I recommend excellent books by Joseph J. Ellis (American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation), his own collected writings, andThe Adams-Jefferson Letters, which contains the complete correspondence between TJ and John and Abigail Adams (I stopped just short of calling them The Adams Family. Aren’t you proud of me?) for further study on this complex, passionate, and remarkable man.

Let’s talk about wine instead.

One might argue that never was there a greater — and more fraught — love affair than between Thomas Jefferson and wine. TJ has been called America’s “first distinguished viticulturist,” and “the greatest patron of wine and wine growing that this country has yet had” and I love him all the more for it. He traveled extensively to various wine regions in France and Germany (particularly the areas of Rhone, Bordeaux, Languedoc, Provence, and the Rhine and Mosel Valleys) where he further indulged his love for good food and wine. There’s even an Emmy-award winning movie,The Cultivated Life, about Jefferson and his wine endeavors.

Whenever I can on my way back from my Alma mater in Charlottesville, I pop by Barboursville Vineyards for a wine tasting and tour. The estate house was designed by Jefferson, one of only three residences that he designed for his friends, and their signature wine, Octagon, bears his design. Their knowledge of wine, and indeed of Jefferson and his wine-making and cultivating, is second-to-none; I could stop and listen all day to their knowledgeable experts. It was on one of these tours that I learned of Jefferson’s numerous attempts to cultivate old-vine European wines in VA to no success.

In 1774, he established two vineyards at Monticello in partnership with Philip Mazzei (who had originally traveled to work with Adams to establish the first commercial vineyard near Adams’ home in Augusta County…until TJ stole the guy from him and convinced Mazzei to establish said vineyard adjacent to Monticello instead. Oops? Sorry, not sorry, BFF?) but was ultimately thwarted in success thanks to a nasty little bug called phylloxera, a type of louse, that destroyed most of the vines and had been responsible in the past for destroying most of the vines in Europe and bringing wine production to its knees. It was only through grafting and hybridization that wine survivedand without the American rootstock, there would be no Vitis vinifera(or common grape-vine)wine in Europe today! So, thanks, TJ, for your failures; they might have proved the salvation of the wine industry to this day. Unfortunately, Jefferson and Mazzei’s vineyards were never able to produce a drinkable wine in the 1700’s due to complications with climate, mildew, phylloxera, etc.; even so, Jefferson’s fascination and experimentation with viticulture is documented up until 3 years prior to his death. Today, Jefferson Vineyards produces between 4,000 and 8,000 cases annually.

In addition to his efforts at viticulture, he was also famous for having spent a hefty percentage of his income on wine. According to this brilliant post, Jefferson spent approximately “$3,200 per year on wine during his first term, which equates to roughly 13% of his annual salary.” Over the course of his lifetime, “Jefferson spent the equivalent of roughly $300,000 in today’s dollars on wine during his eight years at President.” Can we raise a glass to a man who has his priorities straight?

For an incredibly in-depth overview of Jefferson and his love of wine, I recommend reading John Hailman’s Thomas Jefferson on Wine and checking out this excellent series of posts from the wine blog Drink What You Like, which explores Jefferson’s involvement with wine in 30 posts in 30 days. Salud, dear Readers!

And now for something completely different: thanks to a certain spectacular Presidents’ birthday on Saturday, Katherine and I had the brilliant idea to dedicate this week to America’s Founding Fathers! Yes, yes, we know it’s not about Victoriana, and that most of these honorable gentlemen died (or were shot in a duel) before the era in question began, but we love our history, darn it, and we feel you should too!

Without further ado, we plan on bombarding you all with articles historical, ridiculous, and Seussical about these daring gents. We’ll celebrate the life of Thomas Jefferson and ogle photos of the handsome actor (Stephen Dillane) who portrayed him in the John Adams’ miniseries (I have an affection for both men that borders on the unreasonable). We’ll review said miniseries and discuss its importance for the Founding Father’s in modern media. We’ll have a Founding Father-off, and see who wins! We will even go as far as to summarize all of American Revolutionary history with a series of silly gifs. And of course, expect lots of terrible Declaration of Independence puns.

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that if there is an event of historical importance, we can find a way to make it silly.